A straightforward and long used method for identifying wires of a cable provides for applying a dc or ac signal to one wire or conductor at one end of a cable and to detect the signal on the same wire at the other end of the cable. It is also known to simultaneously apply different signals, for instance signals of different polarity or frequency, to a number of wires at one end of a cable so that the wires can be identified at the other end of the cable by detecting the different signals.
When identifying the wires of a cable by means of the signals applied to the wires, it is important to establish a good contact with the wires in order to reliably detect the signals. To establish a reliable contact between one or more wires and corresponding electrodes for detecting the signals is particularly difficult if such connections are to be made by an automated assembly process, for instance in an automatic machine for connecting the wires of a cable to a connector.
Accordingly, the invention is directed to solving the problem in providing a system for detecting the presence of and/or identification of wires of a cable which allows a reliable detection and identification using an automatic or semiautomatic manufacturing process and by establishing contact with the wires to be detected and identified in a simple and reliable method.